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Alice: Madness Returns |OT|

Nishastra

Banned
This looks pretty great, and I loved the first one (I even actually know where the disc is).

I'll have to pick this up at some point :p
 

ced

Member
AcciDante said:
This PS3 install is taking ridiculously long! Am I copying the whole game over or something?!

Yeah it was ridiculous. I had to free up some space and didn't know better and deleted GT5 data, that took what seemed like 20 mins. So pretty much I had to wait 45 mins to play the damn game.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
Zeitgeister said:
what's up with the retail for this game? It seems like most stores don't even know when it will be released, yet it appears to be (looking at this thread) out.
:|
Couldn't tell you. I just walked into best buy tuesday morning and picked it up.

EA don't seem to be putting any effort into the marketing and distribution for this one. It's disconcerting.
 
just tried this out in 3D on my 3DTV with my Radeon and the iz3d drivers. works perfectly for anyone wondering.

laugh at me all you want, but playing it in 2D last night, it was the first time since playing a lot of stuff in 3D where i was getting annoyed at playing a game in 2D. there's a lot of stuff that it's difficult to get a reading on in 2D that would be instant in 3D.

for example, there's a part where you're on an invisible platform that has streams of molten metal periodically falling through it. you can't see the top of the stream, or the bottom of the stream, so the only way to tell how far away it is is to adjust the camera manually.

i'm glad that it works so well in 3D as that is how i'm going to play it now.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
This game strikes me as one that's not only an incredible physx showcase but 3d too, with the amount of precision platforming, levels that stretch off into the distance and the incredible number of particles flying everywhere.

One day I'll be able to experience it with both, perhaps. :(

As I have no physx card I'm torn between perfectly smooth 60fps with physx on low and suffering the random hitches and frame drops on medium.
 

dochuge

Member
I think the reviews for this game are skewed too low and I encourage people to check the game out for themselves. My impressions are after a few hours but so far I'm really enjoying the hell out of it.

PROS

Absolutely amazing visual style, there are times where I just stopped and looked around. From grimy London to the Hatter's domain the art style is fantastic and varied.

The combat is satisfying with both melee and ranged weapons. Not revolutionary but gets the job done quite well. Each enemy has an attack method and weakness that you need to exploit. I'm playing on hard and its kept me on my toes so far.

Solid platforming. Again, its something I've seen before in other platformers but I'm scratching my head how some reviewers are having a problem with the difficulty of the platforming sections. Still early but jumping is accurate and responsive.

Lots of secrets to uncover. Using Alice's shrinking power leads to new discovered paths and there are other ways too. Lots of trinkets to collect on each level so if you are a completist it could take a while to get everything.

CONS

Some graphical hiccups here and there but nothing substantial.

Doesn't reinvent the wheel, its solid combat and platforming but nothing new that I've seen.

Bottomline: absolutely enjoying this one so far. Its still early but the pros are definitely outweighing the cons. I also much rather enjoy platformers than COD games so a game like this is already tailor-made to my personal tastes.

Doc
 

legbone

Member
just picked this up and currently installing. this was the first game i have bought that literally has no manual. there was the code for the first game and some legal mumbo jumbo. two pieces of paper. i hate that we are slowly being weaned off of manuals. i love a good color manual. part of my ritual is reading the manual before playing a new game (usually during install) and enjoying that new game smell on it. oh well, pour one out for manuals. i'll miss you.
 

surly

Banned
Is anyone playing this on 360 with the game installed to the hard drive? The game boots, then when it gets to the Spicy Horse logo, the disc spins up and it stays that way from that point on. It's fucking annoying.
 
surly said:
Is anyone playing this on 360 with the game installed to the hard drive? The game boots, then when it gets to the Spicy Horse logo, the disc spins up and it stays that way from that point on. It's fucking annoying.

Ahh mine does this (I don't have Alice yet), but only if I'm playing a Games on Demand or a demo with a disk in the 360. So fraking annoying.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
legbone said:
just picked this up and currently installing. this was the first game i have bought that literally has no manual. there was the code for the first game and some legal mumbo jumbo. two pieces of paper. i hate that we are slowly being weaned off of manuals. i love a good color manual. part of my ritual is reading the manual before playing a new game (usually during install) and enjoying that new game smell on it. oh well, pour one out for manuals. i'll miss you.
I think the worst part of this that they're being replaced by protracted tutorials that slowly introduce one element at a time and force you through sections where you do nothing but use that mechanic over and over. Sometimes you're halfway through the game before the game has "taught" you everything. It's alright the first time you play but it makes replays an absolute slog until you get to the good stuff.

I'd prefer to just spend a few minutes reading a manual and have the game put everything on the table right away. Alice seems pretty good about it though; you basically have every ability by the end of the first chapter.
 

StuBurns

Banned
Although the reviews are pretty bad, and the game visually looks pretty bad, it's been so long since I've played thru an older style 3D platformer, last one was probably Sly 3 which was a big let down. I wasn't excited about the game till now really, but I'm going to pick it up once I've finished WKC now. Looks fun.
 

surly

Banned
samus4ever said:
Ahh mine does this (I don't have Alice yet), but only if I'm playing a Games on Demand or a demo with a disk in the 360. So fraking annoying.
This is the only game that's done this for me and I have 2 360s and it does it on both. I found a few threads and posts on various forums from other people with the same problem, but I found a workaround posted by someone on GameFAQs.

Attach a USB stick to your 360 with at least one MP3 on it. Play that MP3 and boot up the game. The MP3 will stop playing, but the disc won't spin up. I have no idea why this works, but it does!
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
StuBurns said:
Although the reviews are pretty bad, and the game visually looks pretty bad, it's been so long since I've played thru an older style 3D platformer, last one was probably Sly 3 which was a big let down. I wasn't excited about the game till now really, but I'm going to pick it up once I've finished WKC now. Looks fun.
This is some crazy talk right here.
 

The M.O.B

Member
StuBurns said:
Although the reviews are pretty bad, and the game visually looks pretty bad, it's been so long since I've played thru an older style 3D platformer, last one was probably Sly 3 which was a big let down. I wasn't excited about the game till now really, but I'm going to pick it up once I've finished WKC now. Looks fun.

O_O

I'm gonna upload my 100 mb worth of pics to try and convince you otherwise

EDIT: I should clarify that some areas do indeed look ugly as sin, but other areas look amazing. Overall I think the visuals side more towards amazing.
 

luka

Loves Robotech S1
The M.O.B said:
O_O

I'm gonna upload my 100 mb worth of pics to try and convince you otherwise

I guess someone has to, 'cause EA sure isn't trying to convince anyone. :p
 

StuBurns

Banned
What I've seen of it is very low poly assets, horribly low res textures, practically a HD last-gen game. The art is nice though.
 

D2M15

DAFFY DEUS EGGS
luka said:
I guess someone has to, 'cause EA sure isn't trying to convince anyone
They plastered web ads over plenty of sites, but they have to move on to pushing Shadows of the Damned for next week, which they've probably predicted will do better at review.
 

JohngPR

Member
TheApatheticOne said:
For those of you who didnt play the first one, are you playing the first one first, or diving straight into Madness returns?


I'm going to play through the first one first. It's VERY VERY tempting to say "Fuck it!" and just play Madness Returns though. LOL!
 

SaitoH

Member
I broke down and picked up the game. Enjoying it thus far!

(hopefully there's no dramatic price drop in the next few weeks)
 

The M.O.B

Member
SaitoH said:
I broke down and picked up the game. Enjoying it thus far!

(hopefully there's no dramatic price drop in the next few weeks)
If the lack of interest from gaf is anything to go by, this game has already bombed and will hit $40 in a couple weeks on Amazon.

Unless EA only shipped like 20k for the entire world.

Shame people are so easily scared off by the reviews.
 
SaitoH said:
I broke down and picked up the game. Enjoying it thus far!

(hopefully there's no dramatic price drop in the next few weeks)

Toys r us has it for $45, I ended up going to best buy and they looked up there website and price matched for me, I dont know if I should start this or infamous 2 first
 

SaitoH

Member
I haven't seen any price deals in Canada. I did a good trade in at EB, but it's still annoying to see games like Portal 2 and MK drop to $39 not even two weeks after I bought them.
 

legbone

Member
this is a great game. i'm not sure why it's getting bad reviews. this is my sleeper hit of the summer so far. you have to be a pretty jaded gamer to not enjoy this. the art style is great and certain areas are downright beautiful. the targeting system is cribbed right from ocarina of time. the weapons feel great. combat also requires skill and doesn't feel like button mashing (yet). i love the sound of the pepper grinder. this game is a refreshing change of pace. i am enjoying this game more than infamous 2. maybe because at it's heart I2 is still a third person shooter. it amazes me that a game like alice that is a throwback to old school game design feels original compared to the games currently releasing. the only thing i wish it had was a level select of some sort (sublevels, not chapters). i know i missed some things in the first area and when i went to backtrack the area had sealed itself off. hopefully there is a new game plus or some type of level select when i finish. all in all though, this game is my second favorite this year. for fun factor, not technical prowess, this game is hard to beat. it's no slouch technically though. it feels tight and looks downright beautiful at times. the only game i have enjoyed more so far this year is portal 2.
 

dvolovets

Member
So is this actually good? The art style looks awesome, and I love old-school 3D platformers. Never played the original game...
 
dvolovets said:
So is this actually good? The art style looks awesome, and I love old-school 3D platformers. Never played the original game...
gameplay wise, it's nothing special, but the mechanics are all fun enough, but it's all about the art and story, and those two parts deliver.

it's a competant game layered with style. if you like the screens and weird and twisted stories, go for it.
 

En-ou

Member
on the 360 version i noticed the graphics are horrible in some places -- the textures seem like they're n64 quality...and some insane pop ups also...what gives
 
En-ou said:
on the 360 version i noticed the graphics are horrible in some places -- the textures seem like they're n64 quality...and some insane pop ups also...what gives
usually when things are that bad, it's texture streaming issues. which could either be the game not being made so well, or your 360 being a bit slow to read discs.

probably the former. it happens on the PC version to me, but very very rarely.
 
Okay, I'm jumping in, too. I was a little hesitant after seeing some of the negative reviews, but reactions here are pretty positive, and most of the complaints look like they won't bother me, so I put in my order for a copy on 360.

I don't think I'll mind the repetitiveness that reviewers are down on. I'm a collect-a-thon nut anyway, so I have a high threshold for monotony. As long as the mechanics are competent - and it seems they are - then it's enough for the gameplay to exist as an excuse to enjoy the style and setting. Hell, I even enjoyed freaking X-blades, so I doubt I'll have any problems here.

Now I just have to wait for the damn thing to arrive in the mail... :(
 
Zeitgeister said:
what's up with the retail for this game? It seems like most stores don't even know when it will be released, yet it appears to be (looking at this thread) out.
:|

My GF wanted me to see if it was availble yesterday so I called JB Hi Fi and they said it wasn't out for another fortnight. Now I just got a call from my brother about 10 minutes ago who said it is on JB shelves right now... : /

I'm going to pick it up. The reviews have been iffy but I dig the art style and it's been ages since I've played a true platformer.

Should I pick it up on 360 or PS3? Are there any good tech comparison write ups yet?

EDIT:

Just looked at Lens of Truth (not that I usually give it much credence) and the PS3 version seems to be missing a noticable amount of texture and environmental detail in some of the screens. I think I'll go with 360.
 

The M.O.B

Member
JordoftheDead said:
My GF wanted me to see if it was availble yesterday so I called JB Hi Fi and they said it wasn't out for another fortnight. Now I just got a call from my brother about 10 minutes ago who said it is on JB shelves right now... : /

I'm going to pick it up. The reviews have been iffy but I dig the art style and it's been ages since I've played a true platformer.

Should I pick it up on 360 or PS3? Are there any good tech comparison write ups yet?

http://www.lensoftruth.com/head2head-alice-madness-returns-screenshot-comparison/

IMO 360 looks to be the one to go with, though the PS3 version looks smoother it is lacking some of the shadowing in the 360 version.
 

bedlamite

Member
OK you guys sold me on this game, will be getting it for the PC

A question for everybody playing, do you think playing through Alice 1 is necessary or can I just jump into 2?
 

fernoca

Member
Coldsnap said:
Does the OG alice game on xbox 360 have separate achievements?
Outtrigger888 said:
From what I heard its 100/1000 from madness returns, so madness returns is only 900 if that makes sense
Yep.
The original game has 6 achievements, which are part of the achievements of Madness Returns. So (lets say) if you buy Madness Returns used and (depending on your luck) don't get an online pass-code for it; you won't be able to platinum/get 1000 points unless you buy the original game (through the game/menu for $9.99 / 800 MSPoints).

Grisby said:
Damn, the GS code I got for the soundtrack only seems to be a sampler OST.

Was hoping for the full thing, :(
Both Gamestop and Amazon-soundtracks were dvertised as only having 9 songs; if you got less than that ask for another one. :p
Pre-order Alice: Madness Returns and receive nine songs from the official Alice: Madness Returns Soundtrack, featuring all-new music by Chris Vrenna, formerly of Nine Inch Nails.

En-ou said:
on the 360 version i noticed the graphics are horrible in some places -- the textures seem like they're n64 quality...and some insane pop ups also...what gives
Yep, as plagiarize said..it may be a streaming issue between the disc/console. If anything, try installing the game and see if you notice nay improvements.
 

The M.O.B

Member
For those who say this game has bad textures(it does, but there are exceptions), here, Straight from the PC version, though I resized it so people won't get annoyed by a gigantic pic :p

alicemadnessreturns201yfoy.png


More random screens below. All from Chapter 2.


 

Pimpbaa

Member
The M.O.B said:
For those who say this game has bad textures(it does, but there are exceptions), TAKE THIS. Straight from the PC version, though I resized it so people won't get annoyed by a gigantic pic :p

The quality of the textures are inconsistent, game has a lot of really low res textures in places that really stand out. I'm also playing the pc version.
 
On the Pc, some textures are bad.. whereas others are amazing..

my machine can handle physx on high until there are a bunch of residual particles on the ground, then things get bogged down.

To be expected, I suppose.. as this is an nvidia game and I've got an ATI card.
 

The M.O.B

Member
Pimpbaa said:
The quality of the textures are inconsistent, game has a lot of really low res textures in places that really stand out. I'm also playing the pc version.

Agreed

But in their defense the more abstract something it, the harder it is to texture it. The london-ish levels are fine, but once you get into the twisted dream worlds it can get quite bad.
 

Dead

well not really...yet
So apparently there are a ton of unlockables and side stuff to do in this game?

Im thinking about getting it, but Im just wary of paying full price for a game if its just a short solo game with barely any side stuff
 
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